Michael Moschen is an American
juggler
Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object o ...
.
Early life
Moschen was a classmate of
Penn Jillette
Penn Fraser Jillette (born March 5, 1955) is an American Magic (illusion), magician, actor, comedian, musician, inventor, television presenter, and author, best known for his work with fellow magician Teller (magician), Teller as half of the t ...
's at
Greenfield High School in
Greenfield, Massachusetts
Greenfield is the county seat, and sole city, of Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Greenfield was first settled in 1686. The population was 17,768 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Greenfield is home to Greenfield Commun ...
, class of 1973. The two worked together developing juggling performances immediately after high school.
Career
In 1977, Moschen performed in the first season of the
Big Apple Circus.
Moschen is particularly known for
crystal ball manipulation. In the 1986 film ''
Labyrinth
In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth () is an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the h ...
'', the crystal ball manipulations seen to be performed by
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
's character were actually done by Moschen, who stood behind Bowie during filming. Since Moschen could not see the objects he was juggling, it took many takes to film the scenes with the crystal balls.
He received a fellowship from the
MacArthur Foundation
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 117 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.6 billion and ...
(the
Genius Grant) in 1990.
In 1991, an episode of ''
Great Performances
''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is produced by the PBS member statio ...
'' entitled "In Motion with Michael Moschen" focused on his creative process and showed several of his innovative juggling routines, featuring an original music score by
David Van Tieghem. Moschen's television appearances also include ''An Evening at the Pops'' (with the
Boston Pops Orchestra
The Boston Pops is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart.
Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Symphony Orc ...
),
Maury Povich,
Penn & Teller
Penn & Teller, Penn Jillette and Teller, are American magicians, entertainers, and scientific skeptics who have performed together since 1975. They are noted for their ongoing act that combines elements of comedy with magic.
The duo has bee ...
's ''Sin City Spectacular'', ''
The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...
'',
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian, with a career spanning seven decades in film, stage, television and radio. Famously nicknamed as "Th ...
's MDA Telethon, The Montreal International Comedy Festival (Just for Laughs) on Showtime,
Ricky Jay's ''Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women'', ''
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...
'', ''
The David Letterman Show
''The David Letterman Show'' is an American morning talk show that was hosted by David Letterman on NBC. It originally aired from June 23 to October 24, 1980. Originally, the series lasted 90 minutes, then 60 minutes from August 4 onward.
Bac ...
'' and PBS's ''
Alive from Off-Center''. Moschen is featured on the recent
A&E documentary ''The Mystery of Genius'' and made his television dramatic acting debut on ''
L.A. Law
''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher for NBC. It ran for eight seasons and List of L.A. Law episodes, 172 episodes from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994.
The series cente ...
''. He has also appeared on TV in England, Spain, Italy, Chile and Argentina. In 2001, Moschen was named one of
''Dance Magazine''s "25 to Watch".
Moschen's 2002 talk for the
TED Conference describes some of his thought processes.
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil (, ; ) is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Jun ...
commissioned Moschen to create a new work for their permanent theatrical circus in
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
.
See also
*
List of jugglers
References
External links
Official Web Site*
"Labyrinth: Behind the Scenes (Crystal Balls)"
Jugglers
Living people
MacArthur Fellows
Contact juggling
People from Greenfield, Massachusetts
Year of birth missing (living people)
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